title: Human parechovirus-3 infection in children, South Korea.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human parechoviruses (HPeVs) have recently been recognized as important viral pathogens causing sepsis-like illness and meningitis in children, but the data on these infections in Korea is limited. Klassevirus is emerging as a novel etiologic agent of acute gastroenteritis, but its role in meningitis remains unclear.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To understand the epidemiology of HPeVs and klassevirus in sepsis-like illness and meningitis through the detection and typing of the virus in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and eighty-three CSF samples collected from 183 patients ranging in the age group 1 day to 15 years were tested by using a RT-PCR assay for HPeV, EV and klassevirus. Amplification products of the VP3/VP1 and 3D region of the HPeV, and VP1 region of the EV were sequenced to identify the type.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 12 HPeV positive samples (6.5%) were detected from 183 CSF samples and all the samples were typed as HPeV-3. EVs were detected in 39 patients (21.3%) in which echovirus 25 and CVA6 were frequently detected, but mixed infection of HPeV-3 and EV was not observed. Klassevirus was not detected in the study population. Most of the HPeV-3 positive patients were under 3 months of age. HPeV-3 infection was detected mostly in the summer season. The VP3/VP1 gene of the 12 Korean strains clustered most closely to the Japan strain (AB759192) and the 3D gene of the Korean strains also clustered to the Japan strain, which showed no evidence of recombination.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To our knowledge, this is the first report on the detection of HPeV-3 from CSF samples in Korea, which suggests the necessity of routine screening for this virus in young infants with sepsis-like illness and meningitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sanggyepaik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Tae-Hee
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Ju-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Su Jeong
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: Jeong-Lim
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Youn
authors.forename: Gyu-Hong
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Shim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000821:virology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004770:Enterovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008587:Meningitis, Viral / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D030061:Parechovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D010850:Picornaviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018805:Sepsis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: Children; Enterovirus; Human parechovirus; Klasse virus; Meningitis sepsis